News about Jason Holder

England have beaten West Indies by 10 wickets to seal a series clean sweep at Edgbaston. Ben Stokes came out to open the batting with the hosts chasing 82 to win after Mark Wood tore through the visitors' tail, and hammered his side to an emphatic victory.  

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT EDGBASTON: England's hopes of the whitewash that many had regarded as a formality were dealt a blow by three late wickets as West Indies fought back on a topsy-turvy day at Edgbaston. On a day when West Indies' batsmen failed to cash in on benign conditions in Birmingham, their bowlers gave them hope of avoiding the whitewash many regarded as a formality. Four wickets for Gus Atkinson and three on his home ground for Chris Woakes had limited the tourists to 282 - only for Jayden Seales and Alzarri Joseph to reduce England to 38 for three as the shadows lengthened. 

As Shoaib Bashir spun England to victory over West Indies at Trent Bridge on Sunday evening, it was a dot ball - as much as any of his five wickets - that confirmed the promise spotted by Ben Stokes last summer on social media. Pitching wide of off stump, it lured Jason Holder into the drive, before turning back sharply through the gate and only narrowly missing the stumps. In execution, if not quite outcome, it was reminiscent of the delivery with which Graeme Swann dismissed Ricky Ponting at Edgbaston in 2009. Swann was playing his 10th Test to Bashir's fifth, but he was 30, a decade older than Bashir is now. And yet Bashir already has three five-wicket hauls, even though he didn't bowl a ball against the West Indians at Lord's. Not since left-arm spinner Nick Cook in the 1980s has an England player taken so many five-fors in his first five Tests.

NASSER HUSSAIN AT TRENT BRIDGE: A quickfire win at Lord's was a great send-off for Jimmy Anderson, but if England want to grow as a side the key is to win when the pitch is flat and the ball's not doing that much. This pitch at Trent Bridge was not dissimilar to ones that you might find in parts of Australia and they will perhaps need some of the characteristics their attack displayed in this match down the line. Not that winning away is a struggle that concerns England alone. It's been a struggle for all touring teams in Test cricket since 2001 and we used a graphic on Sky Sports yesterday to highlight the correlation between the most successful of the top eight nations overseas in that period and the pace of their bowlers.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT TRENT BRIDGE: West Indies finished Day Two on 351/5 of the second Test at Trent Bridge as they recovered from a shaky start to finish in firm control of their own destiny. Kavem Hodge punched Ben Stokes past mid-off, whooped in delight and jumped into the bear-like arms of Jason Holder as he celebrated the hundred that sent England a defiant message: West Indies are not done yet.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT LORD'S: We've seen it all before, of course, but there was poignancy in the thought that, after Wednesday, we won't be seeing it again. Here was a farewell gift for a packed Lord's, which had turned red for the Ruth Strauss Foundation but was now aglow with appreciation: Anderson's 702nd Test wicket felt as carefully conceived, as perfectly executed, as any of his previous 701. On a day when Jamie Smith - like his fellow Surrey debutant Gus Atkinson 24 hours earlier - hinted at the Test team's brave new world during a superb innings of 70, Anderson conjured a blast from the past.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT LORD'S: Not even four hours after Jimmy Anderson had led England out of the Lord's pavilion to kickstart their Test summer and his farewell, Gus Atkinson led them back, quietly rejoicing in one of cricket's most remarkable debuts. Out with the old and in with the new: it has been the theme of the week as Ben Stokes looks beyond the retirement of Anderson and towards the promised land of an Ashes tour. But so quickly, so literally? It felt indecently hasty, but thrilling all the same. By taking seven for 45 to skittle West Indies for 121 on his first day of Test cricket, Atkinson did not simply steal the headlines from a bowler who made his own debut when Atkinson was just five. He conjured up a vision of the post-Anderson years, in which the uplands may prove more sunlit than widely feared.

England go into their first Test against West Indies at Lord's keen to celebrate Jimmy Anderson and eager to embark on the long road to the 2025-26 Ashes. But for all the signposts to the past and the future, Ben Stokes knows there is no pleasure quite like the present. Starting this week, England desperately need to rediscover the knack of victory. Ever since the rousing conclusion to last summer's Ashes, their Test and white-ball teams have flunked every big exam - from the woeful defence of their one-day title, via the sobering 4-1 defeat in India , through to their underwhelming T20 World Cup in the Caribbean, where a semi-final appearance masked a multitude of sins. And while Stokes bridled when it was pointed out that his side had not won a Test series since December 2022, one thing is clear: victories over West Indies and Sri Lanka this summer are non- negotiable. Their next four series are Pakistan and New Zealand away, India at home, then the trip to Australia. Life will only get harder in the next phase of the Bazball project.

After testing positive to Covid on the eve of Friday's clash, Australian T20 captain Mitch Marsh will have to shout instructions to his colleagues in the opening T20 against the West Indies in Hobart. After being disappointed 3-0 in three ODIs, teammate Matthew Wade took his place at a media call on Thursday and announced that the Australians were 'expecting him to play.' With the T20 tournament being held in the Caribbean and USA in June and July, former captain and firearms all-rounder Jason Holder, as well as global T20 star Andre Russell, have all joined Windies for the three-game series, narrowing their 2024 focus to being at the forefront of their powers for a home World Cup.

After his heroic effort to lead the Windies' Test victory over Australia, Shamar Joseph, a West Indies pace sensation, has reportedly stated that he wishes to play in the popular T20 tournament.

Timing is everything. Phil Salt would have been up for millionaire if the Indian Premier League auction was held in Dubai on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, the unsold responded to his snub by scoring England's highest Twenty20 scores on an evening of carnage in the Caribbean. Salt also became the first England batsman to reach back-to-back hundreds in the format after a tumultuous 109 on Saturday that maintained hopes for a comeback series victory for Jos Buttler's side, smashing 119 from 57 balls.

On Tuesday, England's five-match T20 international series against the West Indies begins in Barbados. On Sunday, Jos Buttler's men will be looking to bounce back from their first one-day international series loss to the West Indies in 16 years, after the hosts secured a four-wicket victory in a rain-affected Barbados decider. Later this week, the teams will return to Grenada for games two and three.

RICHARD GIBSON: After losing in Harare yesterday to the Netherlands, two-time champions West Indies face the ignominy of not qualifying for this year's World Cup. The Dutch tied the group match for the fourth time in one-day international history, but Logan van Beek smashed 30 off the super over to leave the Windies reeling. Holder was the one on the receiving end of the incredible assault, the most runs ever recorded in a one-over eliminator, and Van Beek took two wickets in defense of the score.

In its second innings, the West Indies were facing a daunting target of 391 and collapsed under the strain, losing for just 35.1 overs as South Africa defeated them before tea on the fourth day at the Wanderers. Simon Harmer, an off-spinner, was 3-45 and left-arm spinner Maharaj 2-4, but Maharaj didn't have a chance to improve on those impressive bowling figures after injuring his left leg while attempting to set off on a celebratory run when his second wicket was announced on television.

Dan Lawrence regrets wasting his time in scoring his maiden Test century, but there was no way to tell him he was going to be a member of the new England. Lawrence converted a sluggish first day of the second Test against the West Indies in Barbados last year, where he smashed 13 fours and a six in his hard-hitting 91. But with his first Test century in sight and having struck Jason Holder for two fours in a row in the last over a day, he refused to take a third and then gave it away.

Despite being asleep when he struck the record, Marnus Labuschagne said his first century of the summer carried more weight because it came in front of his newborn daughter. On Wednesday, the Australian batter brought up his ton as Australia took over the first Test against the West Indies in Perth, ending Day 1 on 2-293. As Rebekah and daughter Hallie, who was born just over two months ago, watched on from the stands as he and Steve Smith announced Australia in a commanding position at Optus Stadium.

Two teams have been in touch with the 26-year-old, although interest has also been shown in Will Jacks of Surrey, who made his Twenty20 international debut last month, and another big-hitting opener in Will Smeed, Somerset. Thompson has been signed up by the Mumbai Indians-owned side for the new Emirates Twenty20 competition in the new year, after finishing as the joint top wicket taker and hitting five sixes in a seven-ball match against Lancashire in last summer. He was also Yorkshire's most prolific bowler in County Championship cricket, but the stricken Division Two club is likely to be without him for the first two months of next season as a result of his rise in short-form cricket.